Snare for drums



July 22, 1952 LEwAN 2,604,001

SNARE FOR DRUMS Filed Jan. 21, 1949 Patented July 22, 1952 George Lewa'n, Elkhart, mi, assiguor to o. G. t, Ind., a corporation 01' Conn, LtcL, Elkhar Indiana Application January 21, 1949, Serial No. 71,892

. -1 This invention relates to drums and more par ticularly to snare drums and to snares therefor. The snares as used on snare drums have heretoforebeen ordinarily formed by drawing snare units under tension against the bottom or outside surface of a snare head on the drum. The snares are usually attached permanently to one side of the drum body and on the other side are attached to a snare strainer which has provisions for adjusting the tension of the snares and which may be so constructed that the snares can be moved away from the head. Snare constructions oithis sort are relatively expensive and are furthermore exposed on the exterior of the drum so that they are apt to be damaged by accidental contact with other objects or through tampering by the drummer. Furthermore, drums of this sort, require an extremely thin and flexible snare head in order that the snares may be sensitive enough to respond to relatively light blows on the batter head I Thepresent invention has for one of its objects the provision of a drum in which the snare is so formed as to remove the several objections to the conventional types of snares as heretofore used.

Another object is to provide a drum in which the snare can be applied with proper tension at the factory so that satisfactory performance is assured.

Still another object is to provide a drum in which the snares directly engage the inner surface of the batter head and preferably lie closely adjacent to the center of the head so that they are extremely sensitive to even light blows on the head.

Still another object is to provide a drum in which the snares are enclosed in the drum body so that they are not apt to be damaged. With this construction the use of the snare head can be omitted, if desired, thereby simplifying and reducing the cost of the drum.

A further object is to provide a snare unit which can easily be attached to the interior of a drum body to engage the batter head of the drum and which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and easy to assemble on the drum.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view looking from the bottom of a drum embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view;

Figure 3 is a central section on the line 3--3 of Figure 2; and

4 Claims. (01. 84-417)' 2 Figure 4 is'a partial perspective view showing one of the snare fittings.

The drum, as shown, comprises a tubular cylindrical body H) which may be formed of wood or any desired type of material. At one end of the body which forms the bottom end during playing of the drum, there is secured a ring II which may be permanently attached to the body by rivets, bolts or the like. This ring is employed only in connection with single head drums asillustrated, and in the case of double head drums in which the bottom of the body is closed by a snare head, the ring ll may be omitted and the snare head may be attached in the same manner as the batter head as described hereinafter.

The upper end of'the'body is closed by a vi bratile batter head I2 which maybe formed of skins or of any other desired flexible material. At its periphery the head is secured to a ring l3 of a' size to fit overthe body. The headis'drawn tight'by an annular hoop i l which abuts the ring 13 and may be pulled down over the body by screw clamps i5 connecting the hoop to the ring I l. t

The snare unit for the drum, as shown, 'is formed by a plurality of resilient wires 16 which may be coiled metal wires, as illustrated, or which may be formed of any other desired type of resilient material which has sufilcient stiffness to be self-supporting. Any desired number of wires may be employed, and although three are illustrated and are very satisfactory, it will be understood that more or less wires could be used, if desired. At their ends the wires are permanently secured to elongated fittings [1 which may be metal strips of suiiicient thickness to be rigid and which are formed with mounting openings l8. In case metal wires are used, they may be secured to the fittings by soldering or welding, and if non-metallic wires are employed, they may be secured to the fittings by molding, cementing, or the like.

To mount the snares in the drum body, the fittings are secured to the inner surface of the body by fastenings such as screws or bolts [9 and are so arranged that they extend generally along the axis of the body. With the fittings secured in the body in this position the central parts of the wires form relatively elongated flexible loops which press resiliently against the inner or under surface of the head 12. Preferably the wires are of different lengths so that the looped portions thereof will be spaced as illustrated and are of such a length that they terminate adjacent to the center of the drum head at the point where 3 they can respond most readily to vibration of the head.

It will be noted that the pressure of the snare wires against the head can be controlled by the stiffness of the Wires, by the points at which they are attached to the drum body and by the angle of the fittings I! relative to the drum axis. After the snares are installed, their tension can beadjusted by turning one or both of the fittings H at an angle to the axis, as shown, in connection with the upper fitting in the drawings. Once the snare unit is adjusted for the desired performancait can stay permanently in adjustment and due to its location on the interior of the drum body is.

not apt to be damaged or thrown out or adjustment by accidental contact with other objects or by unintentional tampering.

With the snare unit installed, as shown, when the drum is played, the head will be engaged near its center by the drum sticks at a point opposite engagement of the snare wires therewith so that the snare unit will respond even to relatively light blows against the head and will provide an extremely satisfactory effect. The fittings are preferably attached to thebody at points spaced approximately 90 around the body circumference, as shown, to form relatively elongated loops. However, by varying the spacing between. the

v fittings circumferentially, the effect of the snares can be adjusted.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail herein. it will be understood that this is illustrative" only and is not" to be, taken as a definition'of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1'. A drum comprising a tubular body, a vibratile head closing one end of'the body, and a'snare unit including an elongated laterally resilient strip having its ends secured at spaced points to the interior of the body and extending toward the inner surface of the head with the central portion of said strip looped to press resiliently against the head.

2. A drum comprising a tubular body, a vibratile head closing one end of the body, and a plurality of resilient snare wires of different lengths having their ends secured to the interior of the body at points lying closer together than a diameter of the tubular body and extending toward the inner surface or the head with their central portions forming spaced loops resiliently engaging the head.

3. A drum comprising a, tubular body, a batter head closing one end of the body and adapted to be beaten on the outer surface, and a resilient snare wire secured atits ends to the inner surface of the body wall and extending generally axially of the body, the central part of the Wire forming a resilient loop engaging the inner surface of the head and terminating adjacent to the center of the head.

4. A drum comprisinga tubular body, a batter head closing one end ofthe body and adapted to be beaten on the outer surface, and a plurality of resilient snare wires of different lengths secured at their ends to the inner surface of the" body wall andextending generally'axially of the body, the central parts of the wires forming spaced resilient loops engaging; the inner surface of the head and terminating adjacent to the centerof the head;

GEORGE LEWAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record :inJthe file of thisipatent: 1

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date 

